i've been reborn

so i did it. yes. i did. i finished my first (and who knows if it's my last?) half marathon on saturday. at the starting line it began to rain while all of us were waiting for the gun to go off. once we all started running, i felt kind of excited and started giggling to myself. if only i would've known that not even a mile into the race it would begin pouring down, eventually turning into sleet, then hail, and then oh yes it did - snow. thank you may 1st. thanks for ringing in the nice spring weather. it was about 38 degrees and it rained/sleeted/hailed/snowed ALL 13 miles. it never stopped. the only thing i used my wristband for was to wipe the puddles of water off my eyes so i could actually see. my shoes and socks were soaking by about mile 3, and i ran in my wet squishy shoes the remaining 10 miles. it was freezing, but things felt warmer once my body got going.

we ran down past and around provo towne center, up and over to utah lake, and back up the provo river trail til we eventually wound up on freedom blvd. and back to center street. i felt so good. my lungs and my heart felt so strong and my bad knees were behaving themselves. i was so thrilled! until i hit about mile 10. my left knee (which actually used to be my good knee, back when my right knee was bad) totally blew out. i slowed down and kind of hobbled the next mile or two and then i had to take it to a walk for a bit. i kept praying in my head, "please - this cannot be happening, this is not happening! okay you've made your point, it really is happening - please just make it better or at least let me finish in good time!" long story short, i did finish. and in a lot better time than i thought i would, considering my knee. i knew i had knee problems but with the training the last few weeks i felt good about going through with the race. i guess i shouldn't have been so surprised when my knee gave out.

when i got to the finish line, my clothes were soaking. everything was sopping wet. and ice cold. jeff said he was worried because i didn't look good. i understood what he meant when we got to his truck and my lips were bluish black. i was the living dead. the blue-lipped, one-legged hobbler. i spent the rest of the day (after the hottest shower ever) icing my knee while watching at least 8 or 9 episodes of grey's anatomy. to my surprise, waking up at 5:00 am sunday morning, i had the always-exciting opportunity of throwing up 3 times. and another 3 or 4 times a few hours later. the surprises keep coming. needless to say, i am sick of that stupid bed. with a knee injury and a diet of flat 7-up and saltine crackers, i am feeling a little better today and i actually went outside for a little bit. i've been reborn because i sort of feel human again. i'll be back at it again, once my knee is better. just don't ask me if i'm doing the freedom festival half.